WASHINGTON, Nov. 19 -- The ACLU, American Oversight and Physicians for Human Rights issued a 76-page report in June 2024 entitled "Deadly Failures - Preventable Deaths in U.S. Immigration Detention." The report was written by Eunice Hyunhye Cho and Tessa Wilson. Here are excerpts: * * * Acknowledgements This report is dedicated to the memory of individuals who perished after enduring immigration detention. Lead Authors Eunice Hyunhye Cho, ACLU National Prison Project Tessa Wilson, Physici  more

WASHINGTON, Nov. 18 -- Rep. Gus M. Bilirakis, R-Florida, issued the following news release: Representatives Gus Bilirakis (FL-12) and Laurel Lee (FL-15) are urging federal officials from the Small Business Administration (SBA) to grant additional flexibility that would allow local small business owners more time to file for federal aid. In the aftermath of Hurricanes Helene and Milton, the residents and businesses of Florida's west coast have been working diligently to rebuild their lives and l  more

WASHINGTON, Nov. 18 -- Rep. Maria Salazar, R-Florida, issued the following news release: Hoy, la Camara de Representantes aprobo por abrumadora mayoria la ley H.R. 825(link is external), la Ley de Prohibicion de Operaciones y Arrendamientos con el Ilegitimo Regimen Autoritario Venezolano, o Ley BOLIVAR (por sus siglas en ingles), legislacion que la representante Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL) copatrocino y apoyo con orgullo. Casi cuatro meses despues del descarado intento del dictador venezolano   more

FORT BRAGG, North Carolina, Nov. 18 -- The U.S. Army Reserve Command issued the following news: PAWLING, N.Y. U.S. Army Maj. Elizabeth Fish is a double vet. She is a veterinarian who is also a seven-year veteran of the Army Reserve, including a deployment to Afghanistan, where she was wounded by an improvised explosive device. She is presently assigned to the 353rd Civil Affairs Command, which is an Army unit principally comprised of senior Soldiers and officers with particula  more

WASHINGTON, Nov. 18 -- Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Florida, issued the following news release: Today, Congressman Carlos Gimenez issued the following statement after U.S. President Joe Biden met with the Chinese Communist Party dictator, Xi Jinping, at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Lima, Peru. As a member of the Select Committee on the Strategic Competition between the U.S. and the Chinese Communist Party, Congressman Gimenez is appalled by the Biden-Harris Administrations c  more

WASHINGTON, Nov. 19 -- The Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau issued the following public notice (WC Docket No. 24-622) on Nov. 18, 2024: * * * Re: Copper Retirement Network Change Certification Received BellSouth Telecommunications, LLC d/b/a AT&T Florida (AT&T), an incumbent local exchange carrier (LEC), has filed certification that public notice of network change(s) involving the retirement of copper has been provided through its publicly accessible Internet si  more

ORLANDO, Florida, Nov. 19 -- The office of the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida issued the following news release: U.S. District Judge Julie S. Sneed has sentenced Jaylun Ramon Brown (30, Melbourne) to eight years and four months in federal prison for distributing fentanyl. Brown pled guilty on August 14, 2024. According to court documents, a confidential source was used to conduct controlled purchases of fentanyl from Brown in 2024, first through a middleman, then directly fr  more

MIAMI, Florida, Nov. 19 -- The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Markenzy Lapointe, issued the following news release: On Nov. 8, a federal jury convicted Lazaro Verdecia Hernandez, 37, and Yadier Rodriguez Arteaga, 41, both of Miami, of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and money laundering, in connection with a scheme to obtain fraudulent loans under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). Verdecia was also convicted of wire fraud. Verde  more

MIAMI, Florida, Nov. 19 -- The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Markenzy Lapointe, issued the following news release: On Nov. 15, Conrad Brandon Bernard, 24, pled guilty in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to committing bank fraud and identity theft during a scheme to fraudulently obtain over $1 million in Covid-19 relief loans and unemployment compensation payments. During the COVID-19 outbreak, the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program was utilized to provide loan assistance  more

ORLANDO, Florida, Nov. 19 -- The office of the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida issued the following news release: Senior U.S. District Judge Roy B. Dalton, Jr. has sentenced Sebastian Gabriel Lugo-Lugo (20, Orlando) to six years and one day in federal prison for distributing fentanyl and possessing a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking. Lugo-Lugo pled guilty on July 23, 2024. According to court documents, an undercover agent purchased marijuana and counterfeit prescrip  more

WASHINGTON, Nov. 18 -- The U.S. Department of Homeland Security Federal Emergency Management Agency issued the following news release: TALLAHASSEE, Fla. After you apply for federal disaster assistance, it is important that FEMA be able to contact you. Be aware that phone calls from FEMA may come from unidentified or out of area numbers. If there are changes in your phone number, current address, banking or insurance information, please let FEMA know as soon as possible or you may miss importa  more

WASHINGTON, Nov. 18 -- The U.S. Navy's U.S. Fleet Forces Command issued the following news: By Lt. Ayifa Brooks The U.S. Navy commissioned its newest Freedom-variant littoral combat ship USS Nantucket (LCS 27) November 16, 2024, in Boston, Massachusetts. To honor naval history, Nantucket became the newest ship in the fleet while moored stern-to-stern with USS Constitution, the U.S. Navy’s oldest commissioned ship. "I want to thank all of you for your service and your dedication, I k  more

WASHINGTON, Nov. 19 -- Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Florida, issued the following news release: On Monday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the bipartisan Banning Operations and Leases with Illegitimate Venezuelan Authoritarian Regime (BOLIVAR) Act, introduced by U.S. Congressman Mike Waltz (FL-06) and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-25). The BOLIVAR Act compliments existing sanctions by prohibiting the U.S. government from contracting with any person that has business operations with the illeg  more

WASHINGTON, Nov. 18 -- Rep. Maria Salazar, R-Florida, issued the following news release: Today, the House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed H.R. 825(link is external), the Banning Operations and Leases with the Illegitimate Venezuelan Authoritarian Regime Act'' or the BOLIVAR Act, legislation that Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL) proudly cosponsored and supported. Nearly four months after Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro's shameless attempt to steal the July 28 presidential election f  more

WASHINGTON, Nov. 19 -- The National Association of State Energy Officials issued a 26-page report in June 2024 entitled "Beating The Heat: Recommendations and Considerations for States to Support Cost-Effective Residential Cooling." The report was written by Jasmine Xie. Here are excerpts: * * * Acknowledgements This material is based on work supported by the Center for Energy Poverty and Climate and ClimateWorks. This resource was authored by Jasmine Xie, Senior Program Manager, National A  more

WASHINGTON, Nov. 19 -- The U.S. Department of the Interior National Park Service issued the following news release: The National Park Service (NPS) has awarded $500,000 in grants to a variety of research, preservation and outreach activities related to the Underground Railroad and freedom seekers. In collaboration with the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH), the grants were distributed through a competitive process to 20 current or prospective NPS Underground  more

WASHINGTON, Nov. 18 -- The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory issued the following news release: By Emily Winget, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory Corporate Communications Cmdr. J. Aaron Roberts relinquished command of the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory's (NRL) Scientific Development Squadron (VXS) 1, the Warlocks, to Cmdr. Luis A. Levine, the new Commanding Officer (CO), during a change of command and retirement ceremony Nov. 14 at Naval Air Station (NAS) Patuxent River, Maryland. NRL's CO Capt. J  more

HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania, Nov. 19 -- The office of the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania issued the following news release: The United States Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that the following individuals were indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and multiple counts of health care fraud: * Frank Suess (a.k.a., Franz P. Suess), age 78, of Wellington, Florida; * Luis Salgado, age 50, of Nape  more

WASHINGTON, Nov. 19 -- The Paragon Health Institute issued a 34-page report in June 2024 entitled "Great Obamacare Enrollment Fraud." The report was written by Brian Blase and Drew Gonshorowski. Here are excerpts: * * * ABOUT THE AUTHORS Brian C. Blase, PhD, is the president of Paragon Health Institute. He is also a visiting fellow at the Foundation of Government Accountability. From 2017 through 2019, he was a special assistant to the president for economic policy at the White House's Nati  more

WASHINGTON, Nov. 18 -- Sen. Rick Scott, R-Florida, issued the following news release: Senator Rick Scott joined Ranking Member Rand Paul and their fellow Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Senators Ron Johnson, James Lankford, Mitt Romney and Josh Hawley in sending a letter to Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Acting Director Robert Shriver, III requesting additional information on the conversion of Biden administration political appointees into nonpolitical permanent posit  more

WASHINGTON, Nov. 18 -- Sen. Rick Scott, R-Florida, issued the following news release: Today, following the news of the Department of Defense (DOD) again failing its annual audit, Senator Rick Scott released the following statement slamming the department for being unable to account for its more than $820 billion budget funded by taxpayer dollars. Senator Rick Scott said, "The Department of Defense has once again failed to account for its MASSIVE taxpayer-funded budget of over $820 billion. If   more

WASHINGTON, Nov. 19 -- Trust for America's Health issued a 64-page report in October 2024 entitled "Pathway to a Healthier America: A Blueprint for Strengthening Public Health for the Next Administration and Congress." The report was written by J. Nadine Gracia, Tekisha Dwan Everette, Rhea K. Farberman, Dara Alpert Lieberman and Breanca Merritt. Here are excerpts: * * * Acknowledgments Trust for America's Health (TFAH) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan public health policy, research, and advocacy  more

ATHENS, Georgia, Nov. 19 -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Statistics Service issued the following news release from the Southern Regional Field Office: The U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), in partnership with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), is reaching out to over 200 farmers, ranchers, and agricultural landowners across Alabama, Florida, Georgia and South Carolina to gather in-depth information about  more

HURLBURT FIELD, Florida, Nov. 18 -- The U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command issued the following news: WILL ROGERS AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, Okla. -- On Nov 15, 2024, the 17th Special Operations Squadron hosted a ceremony to publicly observe its alignment under the 492d Special Operations Wing and reassignment to become the formal training unit for Air Force Special Operations Command's newest aircraft, the OA-1K. "The ceremony is not just a formal event," said U.S. Air Force Col. Patric  more